1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is also directed to a strip of collated fasteners, such as drive pins, for a fastener driving tool which may be driven by some means such as gasoline combustion or explosive powder.
2. Description of the Related Art
Fastener driving tools, such as combustion powered or explosive powder actuated, are widely used for driving fasteners into a substrate. Such fasteners include drive pins designed to be forcibly driven into concrete, masonry or steel.
Fastener driving tools may use strips or magazines of collated fasteners for quick and easy feeding of the fasteners to the tool. Usually, these strips use a carrier of a molded polymeric material, such as polypropylene or another plastic, with individual sleeves, bushings or holders for each of the fasteners to be collated. Each sleeve may have at least one frangible bridge between its neighboring sleeves to allow each sleeve to part or break away from the carrier easily. U.S. Pat. No. 5,069,340, issued to Illinois Tool Works, discloses a strip of collated fasteners in a set of sleeves having a portion that breaks away as the fastener is driven. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,106,618, 4,932,821, 6,044,972 and 6,153,340 also disclose examples of strips of sleeves to collate a plurality of fasteners.
In the case of fastener driving tools that exert extreme forces, such as explosive powder actuated tools, it becomes crucial that each fastener be driven in the driving direction of the tool and that the fastener be centered within the bore of the tool as it is being driven. Because of the force supplied by these tools, a fastener should be substantially perpendicular to the substrate, otherwise the fastener could bend or be driven crooked, preventing proper fastening to the substrate, or the fastener could ricochet off of the substrate. For this reason, it is desired to have a strip that ensures that each fastener being driven remains centered within the bore and is driven in the driving direction to ensure proper fastening to the substrate.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a strip having a carrier to collate a plurality of fasteners for a fastener driving tool.
It is another object of the present invention that the carrier ensures that each fastener be centered within a bore of the tool and that each fastener be in the driving direction while the fastener is being driven.
In accordance with the present invention a sleeve for holding a fastener for a fastener driving tool is provided. The sleeve includes a body with an axis and a bore extending through the body, the bore being for receiving an associated fastener. Within the bore is a set of ribs to grip the shank of the fastener to substantially position the fastener in the axial direction of the sleeve when the fastener is driven by the fastener driving tool. Each rib has a curved portion that is convex with respect to the bore and abuts against the shank of the fastener.
In one embodiment of the sleeve, the body has an end having a flared portion with an extension connected to the flared portion. The flared portion of the sleeve extends to a first distance away from the axis of the sleeve, and the extension extends a second distance from the axis of the sleeve.
A plurality of each embodiment of the sleeve can be connected to form a carrier for holding a plurality of fasteners for a fastener driving tool. Between each adjacent sleeves of the carrier is at least one frangible bridge so that each sleeve may break away from its neighboring sleeve as its associated fastener is driven.
An advantage of the present invention is that it ensures that the fasteners of a fastener driving tool be driven perpendicular to a substrate to ensure that each fastener is securely fastened to the substrate. The novel design of the present invention ensures the proper fastening to the substrate while still having a simple design allowing a single fastener or a strip of collated fasteners.
This and other objects, features and advantages are evident from the following description of an embodiment of the present invention, with reference to the accompanying drawings.